No changes to the signalling are being made now.
This is purely a track relay project.
The proposed new timetable has been published for consultation and sees services along the line accelerated by 15 minutes, but no additional services planned.
Consultation is here:
Nenagh Line proposed timetable is here:
https://www.irishrail.ie/Admin/IrishRail/media/Timetable-PDF-s/Timetable%20Consultation%202022/03-DubLimkNN_v2.pdf
For the former to happen would require significant trackwork and signalling alterations at Ballybrophy on the mainline.
For a train to enter the branch requires three reversals, and some of the moves are not signalled for use with passengers on board the trains.
Regarding bus services, the bus service has contracted along the route since Bus Éireann cancelled their 12/X12 services. There is a 4:45 gap in service in the mornings from Dublin to N7 towns southwest of Portlaoise. There have been no indications that bus companies want to increase services.
The railway, linked in with Local Link has to be the sensible way forward and to build the service up to 4 or 5 trains a day has to be the target.
Will the signalling be redone also as part of the relay? An interesting story about the staff having to be brought by road during the week but I don't now the full details
Well the track relay project has not been completed yet. And at the moment there are increased speed restrictions on the section between Cloughjordan and Ballybrophy.
The line closes again September 26th to November 20th. Then after that closure the final welding will be completed on the newly laid track and it will be fully done at the start of 2023.
New timetable due after that.
It will still of course be too slow but it is ob the verge of being less slow
This line is very very slow. Even with the relay that has been done it is still extremely slow
Irish Rail's when asked this question by North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership was that for operational reasons they need to close the entire line. The rail trains turn in Nenagh and at stages during the closures they have to "park" trains at various spots along the line without any passing loops.
Its frustrating but this is the last major closure and finally the CWR track upgrade will be completed, we are peomised this will deliver (modest) speed improvements once all the welding etc has been completed in Q1 2023. A new timetable in 2023 and hopefuly two new services being added to that timetable also in 2023.
Unfortunately that last one is an NTA decision and they have not been very supportive so far.
Things are looking up but still such a long way to go, need to secure those additional services. We need to automate the remaining manned level crossings. We need to start a project to reduce the numbers of accommodation crossings along the line.
Apparently the passenger numbers have increased a lot in the last month or so which is great to see.
the line is scheduled to close from the 26th September until 20th November to complete the relaying work. would it have been possible to keep some of it open as they said they are only relaying the Roscrea to Ballybrophy part.
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/track-renewal-works-on-ballybrophy-to-limerick-via
The July gallery has been updated with images of the Nenagh Branch relaying project. Train services have been suspended since the middle of May until the 31st July to allow the section between Cloughjordan and Roscrea to be fully relaid with CWR. Later in the year, between Monday 26th September to Sunday 20th November the last two sections of jointed track between Roscrea and Ballybrophy will be tackled.
Click https://bit.ly/3ylB4JA to view.
I think now that this investment has been made the argument of closure or upgrade has been settled. The line will continue to improve, the pace of that improvement is the issue.
Speed limit will be brought up to 50mph early next year but the campaign to lift that to 60 or 70mph has already begun.
I totally agree that the train should split in Roscrea but it is a complicated issue without an obvious or straightforward solution.
My preference would be that the morning Ballyb to Limerick train would be joining the line from the Portlaoise depot. Obviously that would require track works at Ballybrophy but it seems like those works will have to happen eventually anyway.
Think this would still require the passing loop in Nenagh to be reinstated but I am not 100% on those rules. I think the issue is about having two trains on the Birdhill to Roscrea section at the same time.
Here's how I will know if Irish Rail truly believe they have done enough -
I won't hold my breath for it, and to my mind the only options which should have been pursued were ones where IE would do this, or closure. Instead, they'll get 50mph, in places, and it won't create true modal shift because the NTA will allow the bus companies free rein to provide a faster, more convenient service. And if Transport and NTA and the Limerick/Tipperary parliamentary representatives won't provide the extra, why shouldn't commuters priced out of Limerick get those bus services?
I dont think they know exactly yet and until the timetable is finalised it prob would be silly for Irish Rail to commit a predicted journey time. Initial speed limit improvements will mostly be on the section East of Birdhill. The Kilmastulla valley and the 9 gate keeper crossings make the section between Nenagh and Limerick more difficult to improve journey times on.
After the track renewal is complete this year, the 12 remaining gate keeper crossings will have to be automated/closed next. This will further improve journey times and save about €1.3million per annum on the running costs of the line.
Current max speed on the line is 30mph. From the 2023 timetable large sections will increase to 50mph.
Its a good start for a line that was to be closed so many times. North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership deserve huge credit for keeping the line going and are now finally seeing the improvements they have been campaigning for about 25 years.
All this work and they can't even say how much of a journey time improvement it will deliver. I guess IE aren't willing to say anything for fear it will commit them to it and remove any opportunity for the usual padding out of the timetable.
Good news all around really.
Track relay to be completed this year.
..and the line has been given a plug for further investment by the Oireachtas Transport Committee:
“investing in the necessary upgrades to tracks, speed limits, level crossings and potential new stops in order to make the route attractive to commuters travelling from Tipperary into Limerick City”
https://www.nenaghguardian.ie/2022/02/25/new-service-for-nenagh-rail-line/
The ATP in DARTS may be calibrated in metric, but the lineside speed limit signs are all mph, and there are distance signs ("mileposts") every 1/4 mile along the entire network, including DART.
Except the existing DART line which has been re-measured in metric and the DART itself using metric speeds.
I don't know if this will extend to the entire DART+ coverage; either under wires (Drogheda/Maynooth/Celbridge) or to the limits of where the BEMUs may run (Dundalk, Wicklow, Portlaoise?, Mullingar?)
Either way, its very unlikely that this line will be!
The railway uses miles to measure distances on all lines (and even chains until not so long ago on some lines). Also railway speeds in Ireland are denominated in miles per hour. No problem as long as we don't have on-street running, like the LUAS.
So it seems that 3.5 mile section got completed anyway.
Any development on plans to complete the final part ?
Also does anyone hazard a guess at what sort of speed/times we'd be looking at if a speed review was completed in it's current state or if the final 8 miles are completed ?
Lastly, why are we even being given these figures in miles instead of km's ?
Well said Martin Browne, Sinn Féin TD.
The argument they wont fund the completion of the CWR in one closure next year because not enough people are using the line is infuriating. Especially from a Green TD. If the line doesnt receive investment under a Green transport minister we are at nothing in hoping for improvements.
Complete the final 8.5 miles and review the speed restrictions/journey times. Then people will start coming back to using the train. Especially with increased petrol/diesel prices.
People wont use it at the moment because it is unuseable for most people.
Over 1100 people have signed the petition we started now. There is an undeniable interest and a demand to improve the service provided.
"Tipperary Sinn Féin TD Martin Browne said that the intermittent but regular closures of the Ballybrophy railway line for track renewal works must end, and for the remainder of the entire project to be completed in one go. of track to be replaced.
The line is scheduled to close on November 1 for five weeks to allow 3.5 miles of track to be replaced.
Deputy Browne said that he had raised the under-use of the Ballybrophy line on a number of occasions with the Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan. Each time Minister Ryan had spoken of the value he placed in the line but had also referred to the low number of passengers using it.
“But the line being closed on a regular basis to allow for a section-by-section track renewal programme to take place is damaging in terms of the perceived continuity of its services," he said.
According to the North Tipperary Community Rail Partnership, after this closure there will be a total of 8 miles of track to replace on the line, he pointed out.
“It is now time to pressure the authorities to stop these intermittent service interruptions by ensuring that the remainder of the track renewal project will be done in full. It will cause less disruption to the services on the line and is likely to prove more cost-effective, while it would also restore confidence in the continuity of services," said the Cashel TD.
Deputy Browne said that he had called on Minister Eamon Ryan to engage with Irish Rail and the NTA on this suggestion.
“I have also made clear my disappointment at how the track renewal works carried out to-date have not been reflected in the speed limits the route remains subject to. I further pointed out my unhappiness at the ongoing lack of action in terms of adding a midday service.
“On numerous occasions I have commented on how the potential of this line is not being realised. I hope that my ongoing correspondence with the Minister may help hammer this message home," he said."
Pure headwreck. It was to be over 4 miles all along. And just before they start its now 3.5 miles.
Very frustrating
am i reading that right? 5 weeks just to relay over 3 miles of track?
"Big disruption for Laois train commuters on busy line
Iarnród Éireann has reminded customers on the Limerick to Ballybrophy in Laois via Nenagh line of the five weeks of track renewal works that will close part of the line for a month.
As a result of these works, Irish Rail says all services on the line will be replaced by bus transfers for the five-week period from Monday, November 1 to Sunday, December 5 inclusive.
Iarnród Éireann apologises to customers for the inconvenience caused by these essential works.
Irish Rail says the works will see a further 3.5 miles of track renewed on the line which, combined with previous works, will facilitate journey time improvements on the line at the next timetable review, planned for the early months of 2022.
The company recently announced an upgrade to the Ballybrophy Train Station in the form of a new carpark."
https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/about-us/company-information/career-opportunities-at-iarnrod-eireann/Gatekeeper-Limerick-Area
Been doing a bit of research on the naming of Ballybrophy station. Its not even in the townland of Ballybrophy, the station and platforms etc are in a townland called Kilpurcel that neighbours the village of Ballybrophy.
So maybe it could have been Kilpurcel station when it was opened back in the 1850's.
But what would have made more sense is to name it after the barony that it is located in. Carndonagh Station.
The Barony of Carndonagh also includes the towns of Borris - In - Ossory and Rathdowney. The two largest settlements in the area surrounding Ballybrophy station.
I wonder why they chose Ballybrophy way back when.
Carndonagh and Nenagh Junction would have been a better name to have described who, what and where the station was intended to serve.
Interesting to see how the new track is delivered along the work site.
I have been thinking lately it would help a lot with the management and marketing of the Limerick - Ballybrophy line if Ballybrophy Station was renamed and if the line itself was rebranded.
Something like South Laois/Nenagh Junction Train Station. Or Ballybrophy/Nenagh Junction Train station.
The name Limerick - Nenagh Junction line makes it much more obvious where the line actually serves. Nenagh is the largest town on the line. Its the middle station along the route etc.
I really think for potential passengers especially tourists it could really simplify understanding that part of the Irish Rail network.
I think the line needs a new beginning and something like a name change or a rebrand could really help with that.
Yes, it is hoped that a speed review will be carried out on the line (sections of the line) after the November/December works are complete.
My personal preference would be that they just get on and complete the entire CWR track renewal and then carry out the speed limit review on the entire track.
Unfortunately the funding for the remaining 8 miles of track upgrade has not been front loaded yet. No mention in the budget etc
